


Bright & Dark

by n_imaq



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang didn’t ask for this, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Enemies to Friends, Gen, LATER, M/M, Zuko is confused, as a non english speaker i could use some help from a beta-reader, but he’ll manage, im not sure if im able to finish this but ill try, no beta we die like men, the name of the fic is kinda lame but i cant think of anything better right now, they are SO going to have symbolic dreams, to lovers, you’ll get your answers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25961278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n_imaq/pseuds/n_imaq
Summary: featuring Aang who is fifteen, an avatar and doesn’t know what to do with either of those things & Zuko with issues and without a sense of self-preservation & friends we made along the wayoh yeah, and they have to stop the evil overlord by the end of the summer. almost forgot about that.
Relationships: Aang & Iroh (Avatar), Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Bright & Dark

when Aang woke up, for a fleeting moment he was expecting to be surrounded by the ice again. but soon he remembered that he was on a ship, tied up, and generally not having a good time.

“you’re up”

_I also don’t like you and your ponytail_ ,  Aang thought, but remained silent. not that he didn’t want to say it out loud. he literally couldn’t. it appeared that Zuko knew a thing or two about airbenders after all.

“are you hurt?”

Aang kept still on his bench, which wasn’t really that comfortable, but better than the rigid floor of the ship. he even had a pillow and some kind of a blanket. 

“answer me!! I’m... I want you to be in a presentable condition when we arrive!”

Aang looked away. 

“...you can nod, you know?” 

Aang nodded, avoiding eye contact. 

“then answer my question!”

Aang didn’t move an inch.

“ugh, fine! then suffer, for all I care!” with these words Zuko stormed out of the... cabin? or was it a cell? Aang wasn’t sure. he didn’t get a guided tour of the ship’s insides, so he had nothing to compare it to. but what Aang was certain about is that he wanted to be anywhere but on this excuse of a ship, tied up and heading to the fire nation.

Aang listened. his prison rolled peacefully with the waves, getting closer to its destination with each passing minute. 

he was surrounded by metal, which was surrounded by water, which meant there is no way for him to get out. just great.

though if there is water, could he possibly bend it? Aang didn’t know how to make ice yet and thus couldn’t stop the ship, but he did start learning waterbending before his... escape. even though his hands were tied, maybe if he concentrated hard enough...

“good afternoon, Avatar. I hope you won’t mind a little company.”

Aang’s thoughts were interrupted by an old man who was carrying a wooden tray with what looked like a teapot and was also...smiling? it was very unusual for Aang to meet someone from the fire nation who was not trying to kidnap or/and kill him. but after all, Aang didn’t really have a say in the matter of who’s keeping him company, so he was relieved to see that this stranger looked rather amiable. 

his visitor sat in the nearby chair, which was usually occupied by a certain moody fire nation prince, put the tray on Aang’s bench of a bed and began pouring tea in... two teacups? wait, why...

“would you like some calming tea? sadly, I didn’t know which one you would prefer, so I choose this Jasmine brew. I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy it as I made it myself”

the tea had a nice herbal smell, but in order to take a sip and taste it Aang’s cloth gag would have to be removed, and that bothered him. he felt like he was missing something. was this man mocking him? Aang didn’t understand why this stranger would suddenly want to give him tea, of all things, and potentially become a target of Aang’s air bending. 

as a monk, he was trained to get by without food and water for long periods of time, but his physical body still needed it. maybe that’s why so far he was fed just once. Zuko claimed that only he was allowed to complete this responsible task, and that’s how Aang experienced the worst meal in his short 115 years. 

his lunch consisted of three stale crackers, half of a boiled turnip, and one watery cucumber. when Zuko finished his speech about the reasoning for not including soup (so Aang couldn’t waterbend it in his face (which the air nomad didn’t even consider, but now desperately regretted not getting a chance to try), the prince realized that he hadn’t really thought this through. Aang couldn’t eat with his mouth closed, and that was an obvious yet unexpected problem for Zuko. Aang stared at his lunch, then at Zuko, then at the lunch again, as if asking:” what are you gonna do about this? let me starve or let me airbend? ”. the answer was sadly none of those things, as a fate worse than death awaited him: being force-fed stale crackers and cucumbers by an angry fire prince. what Zuko did was remove the gag quickly and shove a piece of food inside Aang’s mouth with one hand, while holding the face with his other hand. after a few feeble attempts at spitting out chunks of turnip at Zuko, Aang have given up. after all, he  _ was _ hungry. it was one of those moments when the air bender desperately wished to be back in the giant block of ice. 

so, keeping in mind his last experience with lunch on this spirits forsaken ship, Aang was embarrassed, confused, and somehow looking forward to what would happen this time. the old man didn’t look like a fool. on the contrary, he couldn’t have said more than five sentences, but already have given Aang an impression of someone wise and sensible. well, at least more polite than Zuko, which was probably not hard, but still. why would he throw a tea party with someone who couldn’t partake in it?

“out first meeting was not as pleasant as I wish it could be, but it was long enough for me to notice something.” the man slowly took a sip from his cup, savoring the taste of jasmine. Aang lifted his head and looked him in the eyes. 

“do you by any chance know a certain water tribe girl?”

Aang nodded. actually, he didn’t know any water tribe girls, but he wanted to know where this was going. the man put his cup down with a soft clink. 

“then I think I may know how to help you escape”

Aang didn’t move an inch. 

everything went quiet for a minute. the waves monotonously hit the outside walls of the ship. the old man poured more tea into his cup.

“Avatar, you  are able to waterbend, aren’t you?” 

if Aang’s hands weren’t tied behind his back, he definitely would have facepalmed. look at him, planning an escape in the middle of the ocean by bending water through metal walls, only to immediately forget about his abilities whatsoever when presented actual water on a silver platter (well, not really silver, more like porcelain, and not really a platter either, but anyway). Aang just hoped that his 100-year-nap still hasn’t worn out completely, and this Zuko-level-thinking was a temporary side-effect. 

Aang shuffled closer to his teacup, leaned in, and concentrated hard. he was suddenly very aware of the tea’s nice smell and his own thirst. even though Aang hasn’t actually tried waterbending without his hands before, he had enough motivation to try. at first, nothing happened. but soon enough, a wobbly drop slowly emerged from the surface, hung in the air for a moment, and immediately splashed down into the cup. 

“my nephew will be meditating for another half hour. soon I’ll be back to take the tea away from you, but for now, you have some time to practice” 

the man was already in the doorway when he asked: “one last thing, Avatar. I suppose you’re not injured in any way?”

Aang stayed still for a moment before slowly giving a nod. the man smiled brightly.  “that’s good. my nephew is worried about you, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”  with these words, he left Aang alone with tea and his thoughts. 

**Author's Note:**

> for now, they are “rivals”, but this will change sooner than you’d expect.  
> i don't want to be focusing that much on their “enemy” dynamic, bc we got to see a lot of that in canon, but its kinda necessary and still interesting to write about.  
> i wanted to see what would their shared journey be like early on. and that’s why we have fanfiction! hope you’ll want to see more of that too
> 
> i also have a tumblr @n_imaq :)
> 
> feedback is always appreciated!


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